As the afternoon wears on, firefighters will be looking to the skies to determine what sort of battle they'll have on their hands to extinguish two wild fires in the mountains of western Nevada.
Topaz Ranch Estates residents were able to watch the smoke from the 200-acre Boulder fire burned on Boulder Hill above Long Dry Canyon.
A fast moving grass fire, the Boulder fire grew from 30 to 200 acres in a few hours, a testament to how dry fuels in the region are.
There are few improved roads into the Wellington Hills, forcing firefighters to rely on hand crews and aircraft to suppress the fire. About 200 firefighters are working on the blaze.
The fire is burning about five miles south of Welington and three miles south east of Highway 338 to Bridgeport.
Four helicopters flying out of Rosachi Airport in Smith Valley and seven air tankers are aiding four ground crews in stopping the fire from burning down the canyon to about a dozen homes west of the highway along Desert Creek Road.
The Boulder fire is burning in pinon pine and sagebrush in the Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest. The fire started at 5:04 p.m. Friday. It's cause is under investigation, but it coincided with a large cell of thunderstorms that traveled north along the eastern Douglas County line.
Units from the Bureau of Land management, Nevada Division of Forestry East Fork Fire District and the Mason Valley Fire Protection District are working on the blaze.
It appears that firefighters have a handle on the 88-acre Pine Nuts fire that sent a plume of smoke above Carson Valley on Friday afternoon. The fire is burning in pinon pine and juniper on Mineral Peak, nine miles east of Johnson Lane. The fire is burning just south of Sunrise Pass Road.
About 90 firefighters, including four hand crews, four engines, a helicopter and a water tender have the fire 30 percent contained.
The only structure damage from either fire occurred on the Pine Nuts blaze where an electrical transformer and transmission lines were damaged. That damage might cause some low-voltage problems in Carson Valley as repairs are being made.
Fire officials hope to have the blaze contained by 8 p.m. tonight.
The fire weather forecast is calling for a chance of isolated thunderstorms with no chance of wetting rain. Gusts of up to 25 mph could bedevil firefighters' ability to extinguish the two fires.
